Here Come the Ears
by Ster J
Summary: Is it the fever, or is Amanda just seeing things? Crossover story with characters and themes lovingly borrowed from the 1968-1970 TV show "Here Come the Brides."


Title: Here Come the Ears

Author: Ster Julie

Codes: TOS x HCTB; Sa/Am; T'Sia's challenge

Rating: G

Part 1 of 1

Summary: Is it the fever, or is Amanda just seeing things?

A/N: Lyrics and characters lovingly borrowed from the 1968-1970 TV show "Here Come the Brides," which was set in 1870 Seattle, Washington Territory. Aaron Stemple was played so villainly well by Mark Lenard. Jane Wyatt appeared in the show's last episode, "Two Women," where she played a rich--and slightly demented--Emma Peak.

--ooOoo--

Amanda batted away Sarek's hand.

"Stop that!" she ordered. "What's wrong with you? Why are you dressed so strangely? And what's happened to your eyebrows?" She gasped as she took a closer look at him. "And where are you ears?"

Aaron Stemple chuckled at that last question. He wrung cool water out of a washcloth and tried – again—to place it on the aged woman's forehead.

"My ears are where they have always been, Miss Peak," he replied. "Now just lie back. You were overcome by the heat."

"'Miss Peak'?" Amanda parroted. "Who is Miss Peak? What kind of game are you playing, Sarek?"

"Your name is Emma Peak," Stemple said patiently. "You are here in Seattle to get those no-good Bolt brothers to rebuild your family estate."

"Seattle?" Amanda questioned. She looked out the window and saw the bluest sky she'd ever seen and the hills the greenest green. "Sarek, when did we get back to Earth?"

"And my name is Aaron Stemple," he continued, ignoring that "get back to Earth" statement, because clearly the crazy old lady had fallen farther off her rocker.

Amanda took a good look at the man standing next to her. She took in his broadcloth suit, his long- sleeved shirt and bow tie. "Oh, I get it," Amanda said suddenly. The Federation finally took my suggestion that we have a costume ball. I must say, Sarek, that you look so amazing in your 18th Century –"

"It's the 19th Century," Stemple corrected, "and my name is not Sarek. It's Aaron."

Amanda took a deep breath, trying –and failing—to control her temper. "You are Sarek _cha_ Skonn _cha_ Solkar of the line and lineage of Surak, my beloved, infuriating _adun,_" she snapped. "Why are you trying to confuse me?"

"Madame," Stemple retorted, "you are doing an excellent job of confusing yourself. I am trying to help you cool down, which is not an easy task considering how many clothes you have on."

Amanda looked down. She wore a floor-length skirt and matching jacket, a high-collared blouse, several petticoats, and high-top shoes. Her hand flew to her throat where she found a large brooch pinned to her collar. As she moved to remove her jacket, she heard the creak of whale-bone stays in a most uncomfortable corset.

"Who put me in this getup?" Amanda demanded.

Stemple raised decidedly rounded eyebrows and lifted his hands in defense as if to say, "Don't look at me!"

Amanda slumped back against the chair and looked around the room. Had she slipped into some kind of space-time continuum? She smelled the distinct odor of an oil lamp on the side table. There was no evidence of electricity in use anywhere. The furnishings, like her clothes, were terribly old-fashioned yet looked brand new.

Tear filled her eyes at her addled thoughts.

"Have I been sick?" she asked in a small whisper.

"Yes," the man replied.

Amanda reached out and embraced the man as her chin began to quiver. "Will I get better?"

"In time," he replied as he gently stroked her back.

"And when I get better, will your ears go back to normal?" Amanda asked as she broke out into a sweat.

"They will be as you have always loved them, _Aduna," _Sarek said.

Amanda reached up weakly and stroked Sarek's ears, reveling in their pointed tips. She raised fever-bright eyes to her husband and drank in the sight of him.

"I saw a man who looked like you," she related, "a human man who looked like you but didn't seem to know me. Sarek, when our eyes meet I know you are my one true love. I know it by your almost-smile and by the look in your eyes. This man didn't look at me that way."

"You were hallucinating," Sarek confirmed. "Does everything seem normal now?"

Amanda raised a finger and traced one upswept brow.

"Oh yes," Sarek," she whispered weakly as rested her head on his broad shoulder.

"Welcome back, Beloved," he crooned. "Welcome back."

-END-


End file.
